Intertwined
by SapphicSlayer
Summary: Buffy & Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Crossover. BuffyWillow, OliviaCasey. Beating the First isn't going to be as easy as they thought...
1. Chapter 1

All things good and evil, pure and dark

Will live in harmony as do the goddesses

Until such a time when one power breaks the bonds

And seeks to hold the world in his own hands

So will rise the greatest evil

To wreak havoc on the universe

Not wind, nor water, nor fire, nor earth

Will have enough power to force this great evil into repression

It will take the strength and cunning of the Slayer

Genius and magic of the Witch

Fearlessness and compassion of the Protector

And resolve and determination of the Giver

All the powers must be combined of heart and soul

So that the evil will disappear from our presence

But should these chosen ones fail

And all things good and pure shall perish from the earth

Buffy Summers stared at the ancient text she held in her hands. Over her shoulder another pair of eyes were glued to the prophecy, belonging to her best friend Willow Rosenberg. They had both heard of the prophecy from Giles, but they had dared to hope, as did he, that it did not exist. But the pieces of the apocalyptic puzzle were slowly falling into place.

"The First."

Buffy jumped at the sudden words. She looked to Willow, who had broken the silence.

"I mean," Willow elaborated, "it has to be the First. There has never been any demon this powerful before. And everything else fits, except for…"

Buffy wore a look of confusion, until she realized what was missing.

"We know that you're the Slayer," Willow continued. "And me… well I'm certainly not a genius," Willow blushed, "But I'm definitely a witch. But, I've never heard of a Protector or a Giver. What in the world are they?"

Buffy glanced at Willow, and Willow couldn't stop a feral smile grin from crossing her face.

"Research?" Buffy asked, cringing.

"Yup."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Olivia had a gut feeling that she was about to begin work on a very nasty case. It had been one of those weeks where the attacks had started coming down on them like rain during a hurricane. The whole squad knew that the attacks were being committed by the same perp, but unfortunately he was one of the smarter ones they had seen… as smart as a rapist could be anyways. As she got close to the police tape, she could see Elliot, hands in his pockets, staring at the body.

"Same thing," he declared sensing Olivia walk up behind him. Two puncture wounds in the neck, then snapped." Elliot looked at the body again, then walked away. Olivia didn't like being close to a body that… disturbing. And it took a lot to spook her these days.

"Detective!"

Olivia walked toward M.E. Warner, who had apparently found something on the body.

"Same thing," Warner said, shaking her head. "Saliva around and in the wounds, and the same insignia on her shoulder."

Olivia felt sick to her stomach, but she had to at leas finish going over the scene before she found someplace to barf.

"What is going on here doc? It all points to a guy biting girls' necks. But is it possible to leave marks like that?"

Olivia was referring to the two perfectly spaced teeth marks.

"No. Human teeth wouldn't… couldn't possibly leave marks like that. They're too perfect."

"Then what in the world could be causing these marks?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Buffy slammed her book shut for the 32nd time that night. Thirty-two books, and there was nothing that even hinted about the two mystery components to the prophecy.

"Wills, I can't find anything…" Buffy trailed off, noticing Willow's face glued to the computer screen. Usually that was a natural occurrence, but not accompanied by the look of shock pasted on Willow's face.

"Will, what is it?"

Willow sat unresponsive, eyes wide with shock, and her mouth hanging open. Buffy ran to look over her shoulder, and gasped as she read. Willow, finally finding her voice, started reading what had disturbed the two Scoobies so much.

"Mystery Rapist Takes a Bite out of Reduced Crime Rates."

"Will, please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it does."

Willow shook her head, her body still influenced by the shock.

"Buffy it's all here. Teeth marks in the victims' necks, and insignia. Damn it, it's gotta be him. There's got to be another Hellmouth in New York City. And the First is going to open it."


	4. Chapter 4

More A/N: Sorry it took so long for another installment! My muse was playing hide and seek, I hate it when she does that... anyways, some more things to be aware of that I haven't made crystal clear: SunnyD is indeed gone, the gang is in another California town, but the Potentials thing never happened. It was purely the original Scoobies, plus Tara and Faith (who's backstory I will hopefully get around to) that made the place go "kaboom". So, no Kennedy for Willow. But also never any Tara for Willow, they were nothing more than just good friends (for these intents and purposes). We'll say that the "Potentials" spell still happened, but Tara tethered Willow instead of Kennedy, and it made the original slayers stronger instead of activating new ones. And, obviously, Tara never got shot. Got that?

**Chapter 4**

Olivia was sitting hunched over her desk like she did whenever she was thinking, but in this instance her brain was on empty, and so was her body. Physically and emotionally exhausted, her body was telling her that enough was enough. Sleep had eluded her for days, and the lack of such an important commodity was beginning to take its toll on her logic skills. She was beginning to think the teeth marks could have been caused by vampires. Convincing the ridiculous idea to leave her brain, Olivia made her way over to the coffee pot to pour herself another glass of insomniac's juice.

The case was having a similar toll on the rest of the squad. Nothing had ever passed through the precinct quite like this before. There had been odd cases, unfathomable cases, but none so strange as this one. This one was purely unexplainable. Elliot had gone home to Cathy and the kids, Munch and Fin had left to go catch a movie before heading home. Even the captain had left, although he did not have much to look forward to at his humble abode. Olivia stayed in the squad room, convinced that she had seen the marks on the victims before, but for the life of her could not remember where.

It was around twelve that night when another human, equally as puzzled about the details of the case, swept into the squad room, as surprised as Olivia was to find that another person was indeed awake and functioning at this hour.

"Casey, what are you doing here? Everyone else has gone home, there really is not much else we can accomplish tonight…" Olivia looked down, realizing that she should take her own words to heart.

"I could say the same for you Detective. But I also have a feeling that you can't forget about this case, because something is bothering you about it. Something other than the fact that this has to be the strangest case that we've ever seen." Casey pulled up Elliot's chair, joining Olivia at her desk. "Something about that mark… I feel like I've seen it before. Or like I should have seen it before… Somewhere…"

Olivia gave Casey the look she only reserved for Munch's conspiracy theories, but also granted her a nod of affirmation.

"I don't know Case, it seems like there is something I should remember about this case, that could help us solve it. And it's driving me nuts that I can't remember enough to end all this."

Casey glanced over at the detective, noticing the bags under her eyes and the lack of attention that she is giving her movements. When Olivia tries to turn around in her chair, her leg gets caught and she topples toward the floor. Casey, just as tired but quick in her reflexes, makes a grab for Olivia and gets her before she hits the ground.

"That's it, Detective. I know you want to work on this some more, but you sprawled out on the floor isn't going to do anyone any good. Especially if some poor citizen like me comes strolling in and falls for yo--- I mean on you." Trying to lighten the mood, Casey almost let her non-platonic feelings for the Detective out. But she need not worry, since Olivia was so far gone that Munch riding on a flying pony would have made sense to her at this point. Casey dragged her out to the curb, trying to flag down a cab. Whatever it was that they were thinking of, it would have to wait until morning.

**Chapter 5**

"I don't see another way Willow, I'm going to have to go to New York. I'm the Chosen One, remember?"

"Buffy," Willow stated reassuringly yet firmly. "I don't have a problem with you going to New York City, for the millionth time. Were you listening at all?"

Buffy turned red; she hadn't been listening, ever since her best friend had told her that she couldn't let her go to New York. She had been so busy trying to think of a way to get Willow to let her go that she had missed everything the redheaded witch had said.

"Exactly," Willow confirmed, crossing her arms. "I said, about ten times Buffy, that I want to go to New York with you. You're going to need a witch remember?"

Buffy was ready to protest, but looking at the Wicca's face, she knew there was no winning. She had donned the "resolve face," meaning that trying to argue with her at this point would be like trying to move a brick wall. Actually, with slayer strength, trying to move the wall would be easier.

"Don't try to go all "I'm the Chosen One" on me Buffy, you know it will never stop me from helping you. It never has before, never will in the future."

"Fine," Buffy relented, not willing to argue with her best friend. She was actually excited that her best friend wanted to come along. More Buffy and Willow quality time had been a necessity.

"We're going to need to call the NYPD, Giles, and Faith before we try and set up any other arrangements."

Up to this point, Buffy had been ok with the idea of going to New York to solve their latest "First" problem, but she was in the dark about why the phone calls, other than Giles, were needed.

"Willow, why…?" Buffy trailed off, seeing that her best friend, ever prepared, was already beginning to explain the phone calls to her partner in crime.

"The NYPD because we need all the info on these cases we can get, Giles is obvious, and Faith because two slayers are always better than one."

Her distain towards Faith still had a long ways to go before it had faded enough, but Willow had harbored more hatred towards her than any of the other Scoobies. But, yet again, Willow had predicted Buffy's confusion, and met her with an answer.

"Its about power, Buffy. I still hate Faith for what she did to you, and I trust her about as far as I can throw her. But the First won't care whether we're fighting together as best friends or mortal enemies, he'll just care that there are two slayers instead of one. I'm planning on asking Tara if she'll join us too, because I know my powers aren't nearly strong enough for this kind of prophecy."

It was not lost on Buffy that Willow had said "what Faith did to you" and not "what Faith did to me," and it was causing Buffy's thoughts to become lost in more thoughts of what she could have possibly meant. So lost in fact, that she did not notice the pillow sailing towards her face until it hit her.

"I hope you're not planning on fighting the First with that look on your face. I don't think he's much for drooly "I'm thinking of Angel" faces." Willow laughed.

Buffy, flustered at being caught yet again, was not quick on the reply.

"I… uh… wasn't… thinking of Angel…really…no…"

Willow shook her head, confused as always about her best friend's thoughts. She was never able to figure out what was going through Buffy's head. Not willing to try and figure them out, she simply grabbed Buffy's hand and led her toward the stairs.

"You. Pack. Now. I'll take care of the phone calls. Make sure to pack me some underwear!" Willow yelled, making sure Buffy heard what she was saying this time.

Before Buffy knew what had happened, she was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and she could hear Willow in the kitchen rifling through her phonebooks. As she headed up the stairs, Willow's last statement finally reached her ears. "Wait, I have to pack her underwear!" At this realization, Buffy's face reddened. It was obvious her best friend knew nothing about her attraction towards her, otherwise she would have never allowed her this pleasure…


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, it's really helping me get on track! To answer some questions: No, Willow is not out, that would make it way to easy for Buffy. Let's say that Willow did not take Oz back and Buffy did not die, get resurrected, or have sex with Spike. (Because as much as I loved both Oz and Spike, I hated them when they were paired with Willow and Buffy.) I'm not going for a rewrite of those seasons really, I'm pretty much just highlighting and pressing the delete button. Those events never existed, but nothing happened instead, either. 

Chapter 6

Olivia woke from a strange dream involving bunnies and a tap dancing clown in a top hat, neither of which made sense now that she was awake. In fact, nothing made sense as she found herself in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar bed, with a bvery/b unfamiliar body pressed up against her back. Thinking back to the night before, she found herself scrambling to remember what had happened.

_Lets see, I know I was at the precinct, I wasn't going home, or even planning on leaving the squadroom, so I wasn't drunk, which is a relief... But then where am I and how the hell did I get he-- wait, what is that picture off? Casey? What the-?_

Olivia interupted her own thoughts to turn over, not wanted to disturb the body beside her but wanting to know who it was. What she found was a very pale skinned woman and a very red head of hair.

_DAMN! How the hell did I end up here with Casey?_

Getting up out of the bed, Olivia was relieved to find that she at least still had her clothes on, which unfortunately,  
more often than not was usually not the case. She made her way to the kitchen, hoping that Casey kept her coffee in plain sight, because Olivia was in need of a serious caffine fix, and quickly.

Ten minutes and a half a cup of coffee later, Olivia still did not know what had happened the night before. She had finally remembered that she was extremely tired and had almost hit her head on the floor, saved only by Casey's quick reflexes.  
But how Casey had managed to drag her from the precinct to her apartment while she was pretty much dead to the world was a mystery for the ages. Fortunately, Olivia only had to wait a few seconds for the answer as Casey padded sleepiy out from her bedroom.

"Good morning Olivia!" Casey flashed on of her signature smiles at Olivia, and for a moment, she forgot that she had forgotten how she had come to be with Casey.

"Good morning Case. Listen, what exactly happened last night?" Olivia asked, getting straight to the point.

Casey was slightly worried that Olivia couldn't remember but had still anticipated the question.

"Well, do you remember being at the precinct last night and taking a nasty spill off your chair?"

At Olivia's affirming nod, Casey looked visibly relieved.

"Well, after that, I walked you outside to the curb, and planned on hailing a cab and sending you home. But," Casey continued, with a hint of disappointment in her voice, "it became quite obvious from the fact that you were practically asleep in my arms that you are not taking care of yourself, so I decided to bring you back here and force a good night's sleep and a heathly breakfast in you." Seeing the look of relief on Olivia's face, she added quickly. "Nothing else happened, if that's what you're thinking."

Olivia, having no response to Casey's accurate accusation, smiled sheepishly and stared at her coffee, pretending to find something immensly interesting in its brown depths.

"I'll take your silence as a confirmation that you aren't taking proper care of yourself, and you know it. Jeez Olivia! I know that you want to solve this case, we all do, but you're ending up in the hospital or being half alert isn't going to help us, or any other case we work on. I swear, you drive me crazy worrying..." Casey tappered off, realizing that for the second time in less than 24 hours, she had slipped up again. She hoped that Olivia missed the comment. Casey's luck wasn't with her this time, as she soon realized, seeing the larger than life smile drift across Olivia's face.

"You worry? About me?"

Casey didn't have an immediate response for Olivia's question this time, instead her face giving her away by turning a fiery red color that almost matched her hair.

"Sure, I mean, we're friends, right? Friends worry about friends." Casey cringed inwardly at the bad cover up, and again at the look on Olivia's face. She couldn't quite place the look, and quickly shrugged it off.

Olivia, standing opposite Casey, couldn't help the wave of disappointment that had clearly washed over her face. She had hopef that this had finally been what she was looking for; a clue as to whether Casey liked her as much as she liked Casey. Dejectedly,  
Olivia changed the subject.

"We started talking about those marks last night... I was looking through a site last night when you came, it appears that there's something equally as strange going on in a town in California called Sunnydale. There were tons of case logs that carried the same MO as our guy here, and the same signature bite marks and symbol."

Casey's face visably brightened at the thought of a break in the case.

"That's great Olivia!" Pondering what she had just said, it dawned on Casey what she had just said. "I mean for our case, obviously not for the victims, not good for them at all..." Being on the verge of babbling, Casey took a deep breath and continued.  
"We should call the Sunnydale Police department and find out as much as we can about these cases." Casey slowly stopped speaking at the uncomfortable look on Olivia's face.

"I was thinking the same exact thing, except for one tiny problem." At Casey's weary look, Olivia grudgingly continued. "Sunnydale doesn't exist anymore. For reasons that are currently unexplainable, it collapsed into itself about a year ago."

Both woman let the information sit out in the open, not sure what to make of it. Common sense told them it was not possible, but the little nagging voice in the back of their mind told them that the events were connected. Olivia spoke first.

"I'm going to contact the LAPD. Call me crazy, but these events are connected."

Casey nodded. "I know. I can feel it."

"Come on, lets get ready, its going to be a long day."

Olivia and Casey both got ready, Olivia donning her clothes from the day before, willing to field any gutter-minded questions coming from her coworkers rather than waste time traveling to her apartment.

Casey and Olivia entered the squadroom together; they recieved some surprised looks from Munch, Fin and Elliot, but shrugged them off in favor of finding out whether they were going crazy or not. Olivia looked up the number for the chief of police in Los Angeles, but before she could dial the number, her phone rang.

"For goodness sake, what timing... Benson."

Casey was also annoyed at the apparent delay to their mission, but her annoyance turned to confusion as the conversation carried on.

"Hello, this is Detective Benson, correct?"

"Yes, may I help you?"

"My name is Willow Rosenberg, although that won't help you much with our problem or with us solving yours, but anyway-"

"Jeez Willow, get on with it!" Buffy could be heard yelling from the backround.

"Sorry!" She hissed back at Buffy. "Uh, we read about a problem in New York City that seemed similar to one that we had around here, and we'd like to help if we can."

Olivia was surprised, and looking over at Casey, she could tell that she could not only hear the conversation, but couldn't believe that they might actually have a break in the case as well.

"Where exactly is this 'here' that you are refering to?"

"Sunnydale, California."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Buffy fiddled with the earphones on her lap, trying to undo the thousands of knots that had found their way into the cord. She was apprehensive about using airplane earphones, no telling where those things had been, but she would welcome any sort of distraction at this point. Willow's close proximity on their flight to New York was starting to affect her greatly. She was, much to her chagrin, beginning to experience the second portion of Faith's "hungry and horny" philosophy. So she tried to keep busy with the headphones, not wanting Willow, or anyone else for that matter, to notice her obvious discomfort and ask her about it. So while Willow sat calmly next to her watching "The Grudge", she thought about anything and everything not related to Willow Rosenberg. 

"Hey B, what ya doing." 

Buffy jumped at the sudden intrusion, being so lost in her world of non-Willow related thoughts that she had completely forgotten about Faith and Tara sitting right behind them. It hadn't taken much to convince Faith to join them; after all she was always itching for the fight. Willow and Buffy made it clear that they had their eyes on her, and Faith made it clear that she knew she would have to earn their forgiveness. But after her loyalty during the battle with The First in Sunnydale, they could hardly pass up the chance to ask her to help again. 

Tara had also taken little convincing. After helping Willow with the enhanced slayer power spell that had allowed them to defeat the First, Tara's powers had strengthened. She was becoming quite the witch, and more importantly, very in-control of her power. Buffy didn't think Willow noticed it, but she was almost positive that Tara was developing a crush on Faith. Deciding not to call the kettle black, however, she hadn't talked to Faith or Tara about it. Turning back to face Faith, she gave her a weak smile.

"I'm just trying to get the knots out of these headphones, **F**. I forgot mine."

At this Faith started laughing uncontrollably, earning herself many stares. Tara looked over at her and shook her head, returning to her book. Willow, to Buffy's relief, remained oblivious. 

"Shhh, SHHH Faith! Faith shut up, people are staring. Why are you laughing?"p Coming down from her tirade of giggles, Faith managed to squeek out, "The things you do to keep your eyes off of Red."

Buffy's face promptly turned the same color at Faith's remark. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, dispite her attempt to hide it, that Tara's smile had taken a slight upward turn. Sandwiching herself in the empty seat between the slayer and the Wicca, Buffy did her best to keep control of the situation. 

"How did you know? Am I that obvious?"

Still laughing Faith calmed down enough to address Buffy's panicked question.

"Slayer connection, gotta love it B. Everything you do is magnified ten times. When you're scared, I can feel it. When you're lonely, I can feel it. When you're nervousy-fidgity, I know Red's around." Faith chuckled, winking in Buffy's direction. "As for this one over here," Faith jerked her thumb towards Tara, who quickly pretended to be engulfed in her book and not the conversation, "you'll have to ask her."

Knowing she had been busted, Tara gave up on her book and turned to face Buffy. 

"It's in your aura, Buffy. People's aura's generally stay the same, except when they are overcome by extreme emotion. And that happens every time you are around Re-- I mean Willow," Tara finished, glaring at Faith.

"What can I say, I rub off on many people," Faith laughed. 

Buffy, extremely embarassed about being caught, covered her face with her hands.

"What do I do now? I mean, from the first moment that I met her, I knew that I loved her. But I've never been able to tell her, you know? Always being in the middle of impending apocolypses, it seems."

Faith, showing her usually absent softer side, settled farther in her chair and sighed.

"That, I don't think either of us can answer," she said, looking at Tara, who agreed. "You're just going to have to find the right time and place. And soon girlfriend," Faith said, reverting to her silly state, "because you feel like you're about to pop!" 

Promptly swatting Faith and glaring at Tara for the giggles she was currently emitting, Buffy climbed out from between the two and settled back in her seat. She tried to ignore Faith and Tara, who were still in a state of laughter. Sending them another pattented Buffy glare, she turned her attention back to the knots. Seeing that her best friend was back, Willow removed her headphones. 

"What was that all about?"

Turning red, Buffy was at a loss for words, and searched quickly for a coverup. 

"Nothing, Faith was just... helping me with these," Buffy lied, showing Willow the headphones. "You never told me," She continued, trying to change the subject, "What did Giles say when you called?"

Waving her hand over the headphones, Willow quickly ridded the cord of the offending knots. Upon recieving a look from Buffy, she quickly defended herself. "I only use it in safe situations, honest. I've finally got control of it." Buffy nodded at the statement, satisfied with the explaination. "He said that he would join us in New York," Willow continued. "He was afraid of this; he had a feeling that we hadn't completely taken care of The First. Looks like he was right," Willow offered. "He said to just keep researching until he gets there, and to contact the detective we spoke with as soon as possible." Willow sighed, looking out the window then back at Buffy. "Looks like we have another apocolypse on our hands."

< Buffy nodded. "Apocolypse, here we come." 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorrry for such a long wait for an update! Life has been so busy and demanding, I haven't had much time to write anything at all. But this story is my favorite, and finish it I shall! Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far.

"She said **what**?" Casey exclaimed while running down the sidewalk, trying to keep up with Olivia's fast pace.

"That's what I was thinking," Olivia confirmed. "I couldn't believe that a lead on this case was falling right into our hands, but she described the attacks in her town, and they were identical to the ones happening here." Olivia, who had been frantically flagging a cab, opened the door to the one that had stopped and climbed in after Casey.

"And they said they were coming in on a flight tonight?" Casey asked.

"Yes. This guy must have done some serious damage in their town, because they're in as much of a hurry as we are." Olivia suddenly frowned. "Should we be worried that they know details of this case that haven't been released to the media yet?"

Casey sat in thought for a minute, pondering the question. "Normally I would say yes, but why would they have contacted us if they are involved? I know there are some exceptionally stupid criminals out there," Casey smiled as Olivia snorted in agreement, "but I don't think I've ever met one stupid enough to call and then fly halfway across the country to the scene of a crime that he or she committed."

The cab arrived at the precinct and the ADA and the detective got out. Olivia insisted on paying for the cab since Casey had done so the night before, and they made their way into the precinct.

"Hey, look who the cat dragged in!"

Olivia groaned. Casey had phoned in and told her assistant that she was going directly to the precinct, but unfortunately, the two had been running a little late, meaning the squad room was full when the two ladies walked in. Together.

Elliot and Fin both gave them a 'what are you two doing arriving together?' type look, but knew enough from Olivia and Casey's respective glares to keep their mouths shut. Munch however reamained oblivious.

"Hey, did you two just--"

"Shut it John!" both women ordered.

Humbled, Munch returned to his desk and pretended to be very interested in his paperwork. Elliot and Fin snickered to themselves, but also sat at their desks. Olivia and Casey shook their heads at their colleagues and walked into Cragen's office.

"Captain, we have to talk to you," Olivia stated.

"We think we have a lead in the case," Casey explained.

"Well, lets hear it!" the captain exclaimed as the other squad members streamed into his office.

"We got a call this morning, from a girl who said she lived in Sunnydale, California. She claims that the same attacks were happening in their town until about six months ago."

"What happened six months ago?" Elliot asked.

"This is where it gets weird," Olivia winces. "Sunnydale collapsed into itself six months ago. Nobody knows why. No scientists can explain why. Somehow the people were evacuated before it disappeared, but when the LAPD interviewed Sunnydale's population, no one in the town could say why it happened. The two women are on their way now to talk to us in more detail about what they say they know."

Cragen nodded, trying to understand what could be going on. Deciding that they needed to hear what the women had to say, he addressed all the detectives.

"What time are they getting in?" Cragen asked, looking at his watch.

"5:12," Olivia confirmed.

"You and Casey should get down there now. Knowing LaGuardia it'll be hell trying to get yourselves in and them out. I'll start arranging for hotel rooms," Cragen ordered.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Two chapters in one night. Record! Send your thanks to Angelus (no, really) since he got me back on track with this.

LaGuardia Airport

Buffy stood with Willow waiting for the baggage claim to spit out their luggage.

_Man, it's worse than in California_, Buffy thought. She looked over at Willow, who smiled. Buffy returned the smile, feeling the butterflies build up in her stomach again. She was thankful that Faith and Tara had gone off in search of coffee. A sinking suspicion told her that neither the slayer nor the witch would let it go if they caught her staring at Willow again.

"Finally!" Buff exclaimed, seeing their bags round the corner. She held up a hand toward Willow, signaling that she would grab her bag. Hoping to gain some chivalry points, Buffy grimaced when she picked up Willow's bag.

"Oy, Willow! What do you have in this thing?" Buffy struggled to get out, her face turning red. Even with her slayer strength, she was having trouble holding the case. The suitcase was much too heavy for the belongings of just one person. Having the decency to look sheepish, Willow made her way over to Buffy and touched her hand. Besides the electricity that seemed to flow from Willow's touch, Buffy felt the suitcase instantly become lighter. She quickly shot a worried look at Willow.

"Don't worry," The witch whispered.

Buffy smiled, and sent a grateful look Willow's way.

"I know, I just worry is all."

The sweet moment was interrupted by Faith clearing her throat. Tara handed Willow a latte, which quickly received all of her attention as she happily downed half in a few gulps. Faith handed Buffy her coffee and winked, causing Buffy to blush.

"Come on, we should find the detective," Buffy said quickly, trying to rescue herself from Faith's gaze. Faith sent a smile toward Tara as she handed her the coffee cup she was holding and picked up both their suitcases, heading after Buffy.

Willow stood in her spot, staring bewildered at the spot where Buffy had been only a moment before.

"Wha…?"

Tara walked over and grabbed Willow by the arm, pulling her in the direction the two slayers had gone. When they caught up, Willow was further confused when Buffy wouldn't meet her gaze. Spotting something out of the corner of her eye, Buffy steered the group toward a brunette and a redhead, holding a sign that Buffy could see said "Summers" on the other side.

"Are you Detective Benson?" Buffy asked, causing both women to jump and turn around. Olivia's hand flew to her gun, but when she realized that they were not in danger, she slowly dropped her hand to her side.

"Yes… are you Buffy Summers?" Buffy nodded. "Welcome to New York."

Somewhere between LaGuardia Airport and the 1-6

Buffy sad in the back seat of the cab next to Willow, wondering what kind of trouble they were getting into this time. After they had all introduced themselves, the detective had insisted on helping with their luggage. As soon as she had picked up Willow's suitcase, she dropped it, surprise coming over her face. Chuckling quietly, Buffy switched cases with her, and Olivia watched in amazement as Buffy easily picked up the case.

_I must be getting out of shape_, Olivia thought to herself.

Now they were on their way to the 1-6, and Olivia was anxious to learn about their guests.

"So, Ms. Summers, what do you do?"

Buffy froze, not expecting the question. She couldn't discuss the true nature of her work in the cab, so she said the next best thing.

"You can call me Buffy, and I work for a safety council in L.A."

It wasn't entirely a lie; she did work for a council that was concerned for the safety of the public. And she did live in L.A., at the Hyperion where Angel was still putting them up. But she decided to leave out the parts with the vampires, the demons, and the slaying until they were sure they were safe.

"We both do, actually," Buffy continued, covering Willow as well. "I suppose it would be a little redundant of me to ask what you do, Detective, Counselor," Buffy said lightly, addressing both Olivia and Casey. "Do you investigate homicides?"

"You can call me Olivia, and this is Casey," Olivia turned to Casey to make sure that it was ok. Getting a nod, she continued. "And not exactly. We investigate sex crimes," she said, referring to Casey as well.

Buffy's heart sank. She was hoping The First would have dropped that practice, but controlling his victims in every way possible was his policy.

"That must take its tolls on you," Buffy concluded, attempting to connect with the detective and the ADA without pushing too far.

"It does. It's not easy, but it gets justice for the victims," Casey added.

The rest of the ride was spent in relative silence, the only conversations consisting of simple questions asked back and forth. Both pairs of women realized that the others were reluctant to give up any information, so they saved the serious talk for later. They arrived at the precinct, and the six women make their way inside.

"Welcome to New York ladies," Cragen promptly said, introducing himself and the rest of the squad. "These are Detectives Elliot Stabler, Fin Tutuola, and John Munch."

"You can call me Elliot," Elliot piped up, Fin and Munch following suit.

"You can call me Fin," Fin said in his quiet but firm manner.

"You can call me anytime," Munch propositioned, handing each of the ladies his business card. Olivia whacked Munch in the shoulder, but was not too upset since she saw their guests snickering.

"Is there somewhere private where we can all talk?" Buffy asked, hoping all would go according to plan.

"Sure, let's see if we can make one of the interrogation rooms more comfortable," Olivia suggested, leading the gang inside.


End file.
